NHL: Nasty start to playoffs for Penguins, Senators
{{date|April 11, 2007}}

''Senators lead series 1-0. (Best of Seven)''
{{Stanley Cup Playoffs 2007}}

{{MatchScore| Pittsburgh Penguins|3|6|Ottawa Senators}}

The young {{w|Pittsburgh Penguins|Pittsburgh Penguins}} were given their first taste of the {{w|Stanley Cup Playoffs|NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs}}, Wednesday night. Needless to say, they didn't enjoy it. The {{w|Ottawa Senators|Ottawa Senators}} defeated the Penguins 6-3 to take a one game advantage in the best of seven series. The game went from bad to downright nasty, with 20 penalties between the two clubs throughout the game, keeping the officiating crew busy throughout the game.

The experienced Senators exploded out of the gates, taking an early lead just 1:37 into regulation, when {{w|Andrej Meszaros|Andrej Meszaros}} scored the first goal of the series. {{w|Chris Kelly|Chris Kelly}} would score 5:01 later to double the Sens' lead to two goals. In the second period, {{w|Tom Preissing|Tom Preissing}} would give Ottawa a 3-0 advantage at 14:38. The Penguins would finally get on the scoresheet 2:20 later, when rookie {{w|Jordan Staal|Jordan Staal}} scored his first career playoff goal, to make it a two goal game. {{w|Dany Heatley|Dany Heatley}} scored the Senators' second power play goal of the night, just 0:09 into the final period, beating Penguins goaltender {{w|Marc-Andre Fleury|Marc-Andre Fleury}}, who was under siege for most of the night. Ottawa wouldn't let up, scoring two more goals before {{w|Sergei Gonchar|Sergei Gonchar}} found the back of the net. Sidney Crosby would tally his first career playoff goal with :49 left in the game, burying the puck behind Ottawa goaltender {{w|Ray Emery|Ray Emery}}.

Crosby appeared to have scored earlier in the third period to narrow the score to two goals, when both Crosby and the puck plowed into the net, but the ruling was overturned, leaving Crosby and the Penguins bench shaking their heads in disgust. In the post game press conference, Crosby said that he would have to see the replay before ruling for himself if he had scored or not.

Fights erupted several times throughout the game, and the penalties mounted for each team as the tension grew. The teams entered the game with a mutual dislike for each other, and no doubt left loathing each other. Perhaps the most exciting outcome of the game is the anticipation for the next game of the series. The Penguins and Senators face each other again, Saturday afternoon, in the best of seven series.

{{haveyoursay}}
== Scoring Summary ==

{| border=1 cellpadding=4 cellspacing=0 style="margin: 1em 1em ; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%; width:98%; border-bottom: none;" align=center
!colspan="7" style="background-color:#FFFFFF; border-collapse: collapse; border-top: none;"|<center>Scoring Summary</center>
|- style="background: #e9e9e9"   
! No. !! Period !! Time !! Team !! Scorer (No.) !! Assists !! Score
|- 
|1 || 1st || 1:37 || OTT ||  Andrej Meszaros (1) || Mike Fisher, Peter Schaefer || 1-0
|-
|2 || 1st || 6:38 || OTT || Chris Kelly (1) || Joe Corvo, Chris Neil) || 2-0
|-
|3 || 2nd || 14:38 || OTT || Tom Preissing (1) '''PP'''|| Jason Spezza, Joe Corvo || 3-0  
|-
|4 || 2nd || 16.58 || PIT || Jordan Staal (1) || Maxime Talbot, Ryan Whitney || 3-1
|-
|5 || 3rd || 0:09 || OTT || Dany Heatley (1) '''PP''' || Daniel Alfredson, Anton Volckenkov || 4-1
|-
|6 || 3rd || 5:39 || OTT || Chris Neil (1) || Wade Redden ||  5-1
|-
|7 || 3rd || 8:22 || OTT || Mike Comrie (1) || Peter Schaefer, Anton Volchenkov || 6-1 
|-
|8 || 3rd || 12:42 || PIT || Sergei Gonchar (1) '''PP''' || Evgeni Malkin, Mark Recchi || 6-2
|-
|9 || 3rd || 19:11 || PIT || Sidney Crosby (1) '''PP''' || Sergei Gonchar, Mark Recchi || 6-3
|}

== Goaltending ==
{| border=1 cellpadding=4 cellspacing=0 style="margin: 1em 1em ; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%; width:98%; border-bottom: none;" align=center
!colspan="7" style="background-color:#FFFFFF; border-collapse: collapse; border-top: none;"|<center>Goaltending</center>
|- style="background: #e9e9e9"   
! Team !! Player !! Shots !! Saves !! Save Pct. !!
|- 
|PIT|| Marc-Andre Fleury || 36 || 30 || .833
|-
|PIT|| Jocelyn Thibault|| 1 || 1 || 1
|-
|OTT|| Ray Emery || 26 || 23 || .885
|-
|}

== Three Stars of the Game ==
'''#1''' = [[w:Daniel Alfredson|Daniel Alfredsson]], RW, ''Ottawa Senators'' - 1 Assist

'''#2''' = [[w:Chris Neil|Chris Neil]], RW, ''Ottawa Senators'' - 1 Goal, 1 Assist

'''#3''' =  [[w:Anton Volchenkov|Anton Volchenkov]], D, ''Ottawa Senators'' - 2 Assists

== External links ==
* [http://www.pittsburghpenguins.com Official website of the Pittsburgh Penguins]
* [http://www.ottawasenators.com Official website of the Ottawa Senators]
* [http://www.nhl.com National Hockey League Official Website]

== Sources ==
* [http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/boxscore;_ylt=AmkVl.IZyW_MzfxunBW0lHB7vLYF?gid=2007041114 Yahoo! Sports - Boxscore - Senators 6, Penguins 3]
* [http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20062007/GS030141.HTM NHL Online ReportViewer - Game Summary]
* [http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20062007/ES030141.HTM NHL Online ReportViewer - Event Summary]
* [http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20062007/PL030141.HTM NHL Online ReportViewer - Play-by-Play]

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[[Category:Stanley Cup Playoffs 2007]]
[[Category:National Hockey League]]
[[Category:North America]]
[[Category:Sports]]
[[Category:Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Pittsburgh]]
[[Category:Pittsburgh Penguins]]
[[Category:Ontario]]
[[Category:Ottawa Senators]]
[[Category:Ottawa, Ontario]]
[[Category:Canada]]
[[Category:United States]]
[[Category:Ice hockey]]
Senators lead series 1-0. (Best of Seven)


The young Pittsburgh Penguins were given their first taste of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, Wednesday night. Needless to say, they didn't enjoy it. The Ottawa Senators defeated the Penguins 6-3 to take a one game advantage in the best of seven series. The game went from bad to downright nasty, with 20 penalties between the two clubs throughout the game, keeping the officiating crew busy throughout the game.

The experienced Senators exploded out of the gates, taking an early lead just 1:37 into regulation, when Andrej Meszaros scored the first goal of the series. Chris Kelly would score 5:01 later to double the Sens' lead to two goals. In the second period, Tom Preissing would give Ottawa a 3-0 advantage at 14:38. The Penguins would finally get on the scoresheet 2:20 later, when rookie Jordan Staal scored his first career playoff goal, to make it a two goal game. Dany Heatley scored the Senators' second power play goal of the night, just 0:09 into the final period, beating Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who was under siege for most of the night. Ottawa wouldn't let up, scoring two more goals before Sergei Gonchar found the back of the net. Sidney Crosby would tally his first career playoff goal with :49 left in the game, burying the puck behind Ottawa goaltender Ray Emery.

Crosby appeared to have scored earlier in the third period to narrow the score to two goals, when both Crosby and the puck plowed into the net, but the ruling was overturned, leaving Crosby and the Penguins bench shaking their heads in disgust. In the post game press conference, Crosby said that he would have to see the replay before ruling for himself if he had scored or not.

Fights erupted several times throughout the game, and the penalties mounted for each team as the tension grew. The teams entered the game with a mutual dislike for each other, and no doubt left loathing each other. Perhaps the most exciting outcome of the game is the anticipation for the next game of the series. The Penguins and Senators face each other again, Saturday afternoon, in the best of seven series.


'#2' = Chris Neil, RW, Ottawa Senators - 1 Goal, 1 Assist

'#3' =  Anton Volchenkov, D, Ottawa Senators - 2 Assists
Stanley Cup Playoffs 2007 National Hockey League North America Sports Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Penguins Ontario Ottawa Senators Ottawa, Ontario Canada United States Ice hockey